Former danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is taking over as NATO Secretary General today

Former danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is taking over as NATO Secretary General today. Rasmussen takes over from Dutchman Jaap de Hoop Scheffer who led the pact since 2004. Over those past five years NATO has expanded from 19 to 28 member states. Rasmussen's main challenges will be the fight against the taliban in Afghanistan, Piracy off the coast of Somalia and Russia's resistance to plans for Georgia and Ukraine to join NATO. But he also faces a personal challenge of building trust in the Islamic world -- after controversy over cartoons published in Danish newspapers during his time as prime minister. +++SYN+++